1. This position paper will advocate for a revision of the United States Air Force (USAF) job assignment system to retain officers. It will discuss the current problem with retention, give some possible solutions to fix the problem, and will present the best solution, which is to modify the current job assignment system. 2. When an officer separates from the USAF, the organization loses the time and money it invested in training and preparing that individual for the mission.1 In an attempt to retain officers, the USAF collects and analyzes retention data such as separations, man-years and retention rates.2 A survey conducted in 2005 indicated that 47 percent of junior officers intended to separate from the USAF after their initial term.3 The USAF is aware that retention of officers is crucial.4 This was emphasized when the USAF recently stated, “to motivate the workforce, we must provide a culture with technically challenging and rewarding work, along with competitive compensation and rewards that are based on technical merit and contribution.”5 …show more content…
Surveys indicate that the top three solutions to increasing retention are job satisfaction, the job assignment system, and pay incentives.6 Job satisfaction is directly linked to improved pay and job assignments. Hence, it is necessary to solve those issues first. Studies point to current inflexibility and lack of control over officer job assignments as a major source of frustration.7 Simulations of bonus and additional pay incentives slightly improved retention rates for mid-level officers.8 The civilian sector has identified pay and allowance retention bonuses to be insignificant since this does not tackle the root cause of retention.9 A survey of USAF officers indicated 72 percent of all officers were satisfied with pay which indicates this is a trivial factor for attrition.10 Therefore, in order to improve job satisfaction, the USAF needs to focus energy on enhancing the job assignment
The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief analysis of the United States Army’s organizational structure and its culture and how these two elements impact its workers, associates and affiliates. This paper will first examine the Army’s history, development and structure to highlight the origins of the Army’s culture. Secondly, a brief history of the Army’s organizational development will be followed by a close examination of its philosophy and supporting beliefs. Lastly, this paper will discuss the role of the Army’s leadership, their response to critical issues and the organizational structure of the Army. An analysis of the army’s top leaders will help the reader to understand the Army culture more thoroughly in the context of the Army’s organizational structure. More specifically this section of the paper will examine the Army leadership’s response to the current geo-political environment and other related issues. In conclusion, this paper hopes to highlight the Army’s overall functioning from an organizational standpoint and emphasize that idea that the Army is like a functional corporation. This will be accomplished by addressing various key questions throughout this text.
Career counselors fill extremely demanding positions requiring an unusual amount of effort to accomplish their mission. The Table of Distribution (TDA) only allows one career counselor position, in every Battalion. The amount of personnel fluctuates between 300-800 Soldiers. As identified above MOS 79S, is currently experiencing a shortage causing an additional workload within a small team of NCOs adding additional stress to an already demanding position. The unique skill set a career counselor possesses are different from any other MOS. Career counselors utilize an automated system called RETAIN. Once a career counselor successfully graduates from the basic career counselor course, they receive access to RETAIN. HQDA and HRC both monitor this system. Only those authorized personnel career counselors have access to this automated system. While a unit can assign an additional duty reenlistment, Noncommissioned officer (NCO) to fill the position they will not have access to
The United States Army has been a leader in military prowess on the world stage since its inception in 1775, and with such a record, it is reasonably assumed that there must be solid foundation within the organization working to maintain the high level of performance. The Noncommissioned Officer Corps is one institution within the Army that serves as a large portion of this foundation that makes it the fighting force that it has always been, and the noncommissioned officers have been an integral piece since the very inception of the Army. The Prussian General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, organizer of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps, encapsulated this idea when he coined the noncommissioned officer (NCO) as the backbone of the Army. (Arms, 1991) In an Army that is continuously adjusting to world around it while maintaining its status as the military leader to all other nations, the Noncommissioned Officer Corps has always provided the platform for continuity through a growing rank system based on its original core, an evolving training program to develop effective leaders, and a creed that moves us forward while remembering the rich history of the corps that came before us.
A military officer must manage pieces of one of the largest organizations in the United States government - an organization that accounts for the third largest piece of the American budget and is comprised of 1.3 million active sailors, soldiers, airmen, and marines, many of whom are tasked with being deployable to any location within 48 hours. This is only possible through concise, professional communication on the part of every service member, especially
USAA defines itself by its dedication to help manage military members’ finances throughout their military career and beyond. (usaa). USAA and its employees are simply already motivated by serving the military community because those in the military have sacrificed so much to serve their country. Serving those in the military gives employees a sense of purpose and doing meaningful work. Motivating employees isn’t that simple though, therefore USAA’s motivational techniques have been analyzed in order to determine what areas the company is succeeding in and what areas need improvement.
Implementation of dual-service couples receiving one with-dependent BAH, rather than two separate allowances, will have a negative impact on retention, specifically on female Airmen. Since becoming its own branch in 1947, the Air Force is at its lowest manning. Retaining the best Airmen to remain globally engaged is a major priority.1 According to a 2014 Rand study, at their five-year point, 32 percent of female officers are in a dual-service marriage, compared to only eight percent of male officers. At this point in a female officer’s career, the Air Force has discovered notable disparity in retention compared to male officers at the same career mark.2
Commissioning in the Air Force has been a life-long aspiration. My grandfathers enlisted, but went on to retire as field-grade officers with careers spanning WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam conflict. Their experiences inspired me to follow in their footsteps and serve my country. After starting college, I soon enlisted due to financial hardships but my desire to commission never waned. Over 10 years’ service, my goal of commissioning ultimately took a back seat to my missions, Airmen and responsibilities at hand. However, I have always sought out opportunities to advance my abilities through holding key positions and seeking out added responsibilities. By earning a commission, I will continue to grow professionally, improve our Airmen and further expand our service's capabilities.
Abrashoff begins the book by informing the reader of how his story begins; when he is given command of the USS Benfold. The Benfold was the Navy’s most advanced guided missile destroyer the Navy had in 1997 and its command was to be one of the Navy’s top innovators. Unfortunately, Abrashoff points out some flaws with the Navy’s personnel management that I found to be shocking. First, was that “nearly 35 percent of the people who joined the military annually, wouldn’t complete their enlistment contracts.” (p.2) Such turnover can be understood by many business managers in the service industry, but unlike the quick and cheap training process for them, the cost for the military (taxpayers) is astounding. Abrashoff estimates that it cost roughly “$35,000 to recruit a trainee and tens of thousands more in additional training costs to get new personnel to the basic level of proficiency.” (p.2) Curbing this trend on his own ship and eventually helping to achieve a decrease overall in the mil...
In the operational Air Force, officers, as well as most enlisted positions, are given the ability to leave base freely when their job or shift is complete, with the exception of a severe punishment or hostile surrounding environment (Quinn, Rosenberg). Giving cadets this ability will prepare them for when they become leaders and have to make decisions for themselves, as well as other people. They will learn to take care of themselves and gain the ability to be self-sufficient. After all, how can they take care of other people if they do not have the ability to take care of themselves? The Academy admits cadets based on being the most competent, confident leaders among their peers, yet more parts of their lives are more restricted, including the senior cadets, and micromanaged than most other areas of the military.
The foundation for effective job performance and compensation system can be traced to effective job analysis process. Fundamentally, a job analysis should consist of a thorough examination of the job 's duties and knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualities that are required in order to be successful in a specific position, upon which appropriate rewards or compensation can be determined. For many perspectives, jobs are usually made up of requirements and rewards, where rewards may be regarded as a major recruitment strategy for motivating potential employees in order to influence them to stay the organization for a longer period as well as enhance their performance. The most common or basic form of rewards which attracts employees is extrinsic
Johnson, Sam T. "Plan your organization’s reward strategy through pay for performance dynamics: Compensation & Benefits Review 30, Number 3: (May/June 1998): 67-72
majority of employees need motivation to feel good about their jobs and perform optimally. Some employees are money oriented while others find acknowledgment and accolades personally motivating. Motivation levels within the workplace have a point-blank impact on employee effciency. Workers who are driven and excited about their jobs carry out their obligations/duties to the best of their capacity and generation numbers increment therefore. An impetus is an inspiring impact that is intended to drive
Attracting and retaining the most talented employees is essential for long-term organizational success. An important component to attracting and retaining such employees is the design and implementation of an effective compensation and benefit system. Assuming the role of a highly regarded human resource consultant hired to review, analyze, and revise the compensation and benefit system utilized by my city’s largest employer, Holland Enterprises, this paper presents a revised compensation and benefit strategy that suits the firm. This proposal describes how an effective compensation and benefit system could contribute to organizational effectiveness in the firm, the principle components of the revised compensation and benefit system for the
As per preliminary analyses conducted with job satisfaction and anticipated job retention—it was concluded that the two were not correlated. (Cohen & Cohen, 1983). As per the results of this analysis, the prominent job satisfaction factors were:
In a society where job security is important one has to question why not put employees where they need be, in the places where they will be most successful, where business can benefit from a happy and energetic employee. Does the quote by Mr. Buffet make since? Being a member of the Armed Forces one would think that retention is a challenge. In my personal opinion I think it depends on the job/department, with using the lingo of the military, it depends on the AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) in which you are assigned. I will take it one step further and state that it may depend on the branch of service and whether are not you are Active Duty, Guard, or Reserves. For example, members that may have to report to duty one weekend and